Enhanced magnetic properties in chemically inhomogeneous Nd-Dy-Fe-B sintered magnets by multi-main-phase process

Homogeneous substitution of Dy for Nd in the hard magnetic 2:14:1 phase can effectively enhance coercivity to ensure the high temperature operation,however,inevitably deteriorate remanence at expense.In this work,we performed a comparative investigation of the two magnets prepared by multimain-phase(co-sintering Nd2Fe14B and(Nd,Dy)2Fe14B powders) and single-main-phase(sintering(Nd,Dy)2Fe14B powders) approaches.The comparative investigation reveals that at the same Dy substitution level(2.16 wt%),such chemically inhomogeneous multi-main-phase magnet possesses better roomtemperature magnetic properties as well as thermal stability than those of the single-main-phase one with homogenous Dy distribution in the matrix grains.Room-temperature magnetic properties HCj=1664 kA/m,Br=1.33 T and(BH)max=350.4 kJ/m~3 for the multi-main-phase magnet are all better than those for the single-main-phase magnet with HCj=1536 kA/m,Br=1.29 T and(BH)max=318.4 kj/m3.In addition,over the temperature range from 295 to 423 K,both the temperature coefficients of coercivity and remanence for the multi-main-phase magnet are also lower than that for the single-main-phase magnet.Such superior magnetic performance is attributed to the short-range magnetic interactions inside individual 2:14:1 phase grains and the long-range magnetostatic interactions between adjacent grains with inhomogeneous Dy distribution.Our work provides a feasible approach of enhancing coercivity and retaining energy product simultaneously in the Nd-Dy-Fe-B permanent magnets.